Items Tagged With Health and Cooking

You know those bottles of wine you picked up because they were on sale, and now you're wondering what you are going to do with them? I've got your answer: Cook and bake with the wine. You probably wouldn't want to cook with a special bottle of wine but those wild-card bottles collecting dust in the pantry -- why not?

When I think of wine, I think of a great fat substitute in recipes. I'm probably unusual in this regard, but I actually use wine more often in cooking than I do as a beverage with dinner.

When you take some of the fat out of dishes, you usually need to add another ingredient to replace the lost moisture. Here are some examples of how wine can do just that:

• Instead of sautéing veggies in heaps of butter or oil, you can sauté them in a smaller amount of oil plus some wine for flavor and moisture.
• Instead of making a marinade with 1/2 cup of oil, decrease the oil to 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup wine.
• Instead of adding 3/4 cup of oil to a cake mix recipe, add 3/4 cup of white or dessert wine to the batter.

Here are my favorite ways to use wine in light cooking:

• Wine helps cook and add flavor to fish. Deep-fried fish dipped in tartar sauce, albeit tasty, defeats the nutritional purpose of eating fish. One way to add flavor and moisture to fish without adding fat is to cook it with wine. You can add wine to the pan while the fish is simmering, poach the fish over a saucepan of boiling wine, or drizzle fish with a tablespoon or two of wine and bake it in a foil package.

• Wine is a great ingredient in marinades. Wine is basically an acid ingredient (which helps tenderize the outside of the meat) and it has a lot of flavor. The wine-based marinade helps keep meat, poultry, or seafood moist while it cooks, too.

• Wine can help cook and simmer foods. Add wine to dishes you're cooking in a skillet on the stove, in a slow cooker, or in the oven. Simmered along with the food, it adds flavor and moisture to whatever dish you're making.

• Wine can be used in baking, too! For certain types of cakes, using wine or sherry in place of some of the fat not only lightens up the cake but adds complimentary flavors.

7 Secrets of Cooking With Wine

Ready to start experimenting with wine cookery? Here are seven basics you should know.

1. Play off the subtle flavors in wine.

Here are some of the subtle food-like flavors that can come through in wine -- which you may want to capitalize on by adding some to dishes containing these foods:

• White wine: melon, apple, pineapple, pear, citrus, vanilla, caramel, olives, and mushrooms
• Red wine: berries, peaches, currants, plums, cherries, oranges, chocolate, and coffee

Guess who's coming to Thanksgiving dinner? It could be a vegetarian or two.

For many hosts and hostesses this Thanksgiving, the odds are good that someone is coming to dinner who doesn't eat turkey or other animal meats. Over the years, I've been both the visiting vegetarian and the hostess welcoming vegetarian guests.

Interest in vegetarianism is on the rise, with about 6% of the American population saying they never eat meat (the figure goes up to 10% among those aged 18-34), according to a recent Vegetarian Resource Group Harris Interactive Survey.

Whether people become committed to vegetarianism due to religious, ethical, or health considerations, or out of concern for the environment or animal rights, they are all most likely receiving health benefits.

In a recent position statement, the American Dietetic Association says that the nutritional benefits of vegetarian diets include lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein, as well as higher levels of fiber, folate, phytochemicals, and antioxidants such as vitamin C and E.

Vegetarians may also have lower body mass indexes (compared to non-vegetarians) and lower rates of death from heart disease. They're also likely to have lower blood cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure, as well as lower rates of type 2 diabetes and prostate and colon cancers.

If you're expecting vegetarians to dinner (who may or may not include yourself), there are two ways to look at it. You can either make sure you have so many vegetarian side dishes that your non-meat-eating guests can make a meal of them, or you can include vegetarian main dishes out of respect for their meatless mandate.

I'll tackle both in this article. Below, you'll find a recipe for savory vegetable gravy so your vegetarian guests can enjoy the classic Thanksgiving comfort food of mashed potatoes and gravy. There's also a recipe for a main dish, Yuletide Manicotti, and a festive dinner roll.

All of the recipes will be acceptable for lacto-ovo vegetarians (those who eat eggs and milk products). If you're expecting a vegan for dinner, experiment with vegan substitutes, such as soy milk, soy cheese, and soy-based margarines.

Who can keep up with all the nutrition trends and “latest information”? We rely on the knowledge of dietary experts to direct us with our food and nutrient choices

Nutritionists’ Top Picks

Health and Cooking  Kitchen Experts  Recipes 

There are some powerfully protective and health-promoting nutrients that we know about these days. Can you say lycopene, carotenoids, or vitamin C?

Some are vitamins or minerals, some are phytochemicals, and some are things that aren't even digested (soluble and insoluble fibers). And there are certain foods that -- because they contain impressive amounts of several powerhouse nutrients -- just seem to be "super" foods.

We aren't talking about spending money on megavitamin supplements or exotic plant extracts. If we map the food sources for all these super-nutrients, we find a clearly marked path toward certain fruits and vegetables, along with other plant foods like beans and whole grains.

But frankly, most Americans probably won't heed these life-enhancing suggestions if it means significantly changing what, where, or how they eat. Many people would rather pop a pill and call it a day. I hear it all the time. People say to me: "Just tell me what to take."

So let's get some inspiration going by proclaiming this Super-Foods Week -- and it's all about pumping particularly protective foods into your daily diet.

These foods are so chock full of protective nutrients and energy-boosting vitamins that eating them is almost like taking a vitamin supplement -- but better. The great part about these super-foods is that they come with a nature-made balance of nutrients, phytochemicals, and fiber. There are probably all sorts of health benefits to these components that we haven't even discovered yet. Just this month, the Journal of Nutrition published a study indicating that a phytochemical found in spinach may help protect against prostate cancer.

I've got my own mental list of what I would pick as the top 10 or 15 super-foods, but I was curious to find out what foods would make the lists of people who work for top nutrition organizations and health newsletters.

Melanie Polk, RD, director of nutrition education for the American Institute for Cancer Research, stresses the importance of eating a large variety of plant foods. But she was able to help me in my quest for the top 10 super-foods.

Calling on what she has read recently about various nutrients and cancer prevention, she gave me this list off the top of her head:

• Broccoli
• Sweet potatoes
• Beans of all types
• Kale (or other leafy greens like spinach)
• Red bell peppers
• Tomatoes, raw or cooked
• Whole wheat (or other whole grains like quinoa or bulgur)
• Oats
• Apples
• Berries

(Polk also noted that kiwi and cantaloupe would make her top 20 list)

The Environmental Nutrition Newsletter, meanwhile, named these 15 foods as "super foods for super health" in its April 2004 issue (listed alphabetically):

• Avocados
• Blueberries
• Brazil nuts
• Broccoli
• Butternut squash
• Edamame
• Flaxseed
• Kale
• Kiwi
• Lentils
• Onions
• Quinoa
• Sardines
• Tomatoes
• Yogurt

I call myself a "part-time" vegetarian because, while I do eat meat, I like to eat vegetarian meals often. I even like to order vegetarian entrees at restaurants, just to get new ideas for making meatless dishes. I still eat fish, chicken, lean beef and pork, but I would guess at least half of my meals are lacto-ovo vegetarian (meaning they include eggs and/or dairy products).

There was a time when all my meals were meatless (can you say University of California at Berkeley graduate school?). Oddly enough, the one thing I totally craved every so often was a good lean cheeseburger (that was before they had all these great vegetarian burgers.)

Two decades and two kids later, I have evolved into a happy, part-time vegetarian. Becoming a part-time vegetarian comes with a slew of benefits. It often costs less to prepare meatless dishes, it helps the environment when we eat more plant-based meals (some would argue), and then there's the health advantage.

Besides reducing the saturated fat content of your diet, a meatless day or two each week, has other benefits, says Julie Upton, MS, RD, with the Environmental Nutrition Newsletter. Upton says vegetarian diets are lower in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. They also tend to include more of the beneficial nutrients found in plant foods, like vitamin A and C, potassium, fiber, and phytonutrients like beta-carotene and lycopene.

There's never been a better time to eat meatless meals, whether you do it part time or all the time. Today's supermarkets have many healthful and creative options, including meatless convenience Items you can keep in your freezer for those action-packed weeknights. Here are a handful of quick options to consider:

1. Burger Alternatives. Soy and veggie burgers usually contain less saturated fat than beef burgers, some feature high-quality soy protein, and most have at least a couple of grams of fiber, too. Here are a few examples:

• Boca Burger -- Vegan (110 calories, 2 g fat, 13 g protein, 5 g fiber)
• Gardenburger Flame Grilled Soy Burger (120 calories, 4 g fat, 14 g protein, 4 g fiber)
• Gardenburger Savory Portabella Burger (100 calories, 2.5 g fat, 9 g protein, 4 g fiber)
• Morningstar Farms Grillers Original (140 calories, 6 g fat, 15 g protein, 2 g fiber)
• Amy's All American Burger (120 calories, 3 g fat, 10 g protein, 3 g fiber)
• Whole Foods 365 Organic Classic Veggie Burger (100 calories, 2.7 g fat, 14 g protein, 4 g fiber)

2. Frozen (non-meat) pizza. Check the ingredient label to find out for sure, but some brands are definitely suitable for lacto vegetarians. Check out these fun flavors:

• Amy's Pizza Pesto (1/3 Pizza, 128 grams, contains 310 calories, 12 g fat, 12 g protein, 2 g fiber)
• Freschetta Brick Oven Roasted Portabella, Mushroom and Spinach (142 gram serving contains 280 calories, 10 g fat, 12 g protein, 2 g fiber)
• Whole Foods 365 Roasted Vegetable & Goat Cheese (142 gram serving contains 270 calories, 7 g fat, 12 g protein, 3 g fiber)

3. Frozen cheese-filled tortellini and ravioli. In the fresh and frozen pasta sections of your supermarket, you'll provably find at least three brands of meatless tortellini and raviolis. Just pop them in your freezer and when the mood hits, you're about 20 minutes away from tender tortellini (including the time it takes to boil the water)! Add a meatless sauce (marinara, a drizzle of olive oil, pesto, or a vegetarian white sauce) and some vegetables, you're good to go.